František Gellner (19 June 1881 – disappeared September 1914) was a Czech poet, short story writer, artist and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

Biography

František Gellner was born to a poor

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It lies on the left bank of the Jizera (river), Jizera River. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region. I ...

(''Jungbunzlau''),

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. His father was a seller and a keen

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

.''Lexikon české literatury'', vol.I, Academia, Praha 2000, pp.795–797, and ''Slovník českých spisovatelů'', Československý spisovatel, Praha 1964, p.11

His student room above his father's shop was the place of his first writing attempts – he covered the walls with his provocative poems and caricatures. He studied at the gymnasium (school), gymnasium in Mladá Boleslav where he contributed to the student journals ''Lípa'', ''Lucerna'', ''Pêle-Mêle'' and ''Mládí'' with poems, translations and drawings. He went to

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to study at the Polytechnic Institute, but left after two years with just one exam in drawing. Gellner's Bohemian lifestyle brought him to the anarchist movement. His flat was searched several times by police.Mgr. Václav Trantina: ''František Gellner – student Báňské akademie v Příbrami, spisovatel a básník''; Hornické muzeum Příbra

He wrote to ''Nový kult'' journal. In 1901 he started studying at the Mining Academy in Příbram and often went to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

to join anarchist parties with S.K. Neumann, Karel Toman, Fráňa Šrámek and Marie Majerová. He started compulsory military service in 1904 but dropped out after a year. He went to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

to study painting in 1905 and a year later to

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where he drew caricatures for such journals as ''Rire'', ''Cri de Paris'', and ''Le temps nouveau''. In 1908 he returned to

(his father was ill) and in 1909 went to

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and again to Paris. In 1911 he settled in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

and started to work for '' Lidové noviny'' as a caricaturist and a reporter. At the beginning of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Gellner was recruited to the Austro-Hungarian army and went to Galicia. The last report about him was that he was relaxing on a path between

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and Tomaszów. On 13 September 1914 he was reported missing and never found.Lexikon české literatury, vol.I, Academia, Praha 2000, pp.795–797, and Slovník českých spisovatelů, Československý spisovatel, Praha 1964, p.112.

Poetry

His first poems are full of irony in

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

's style. His poem ''Patnáct lahví koňaku'' (Fifteen bottles of cognac) which he wrote at the age of 15 was published in ''Švanda dudák'' journal (edited by Ignát Herrmann).''Český rozhlas 85'

In 1901 he published his first collection called ''Po nás ať přijde potopa!'' (After Us Let the Floods Come!) in which he used especially sexual motifs without any embellishments. The next collection ''Radosti života'' (Joys of Life) shifted the point of view from subject to object and throws the disbelief more on society. The rhythm of the poems is close to

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

verses or chansons. ''Nové verše'' (New Verses, published posthumously in 1919) are not so pathetic as if seen from a distance with a lot of nonchalance. He also wrote satirical poems in Karel Havlíček Borovský's style which were published mostly in papers and journals. He also illustrated Havlíček's ''Křest sv. Vladimíra''. One of his best-known poems was published in ''Po nás ať přijde potopa'' (1901): Another piece from the book ''Básně z pozůstalosti'' that is typical for Gellner's Bohemian lifestyle begins with this strophe:

References

External links

Works by František Gellner available online at the catalogue of the Municipal Library in Prague
(in Czech; no registration needed). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gellner, Frantisek 1881 births 1910s missing person cases 19th-century Czech male writers 19th-century Czech poets Anarchist writers Jews from Austria-Hungary Czech anarchists Czech caricaturists Czech people from Austria-Hungary Poets from Austria-Hungary Czech Jews Czech-language writers Czech poets Jewish anarchists Jewish poets Czech male poets Missing person cases in Europe People from Mladá Boleslav TU Wien alumni Year of death unknown Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Anarchists from Austria-Hungary

Biography

Poetry

See also

References

External links